BILL NUMBER: AB 2729	CHAPTERED  09/26/00

	CHAPTER   641
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 26, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 24, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 21, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 22, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 10, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 13, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wesson

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2000

   An act to amend Section 12110 of, and to add Section 13351.85 to,
the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2729, Wesson.  Vehicles:  towing service.
   (1) Existing law prohibits a towing service from providing a gift,
commission, or compensations in consideration of arranging or
requesting services, and prohibits any person or public entity from
accepting these gifts, commissions, or compensations.  Existing law
also prohibits a towing service or the employee of a towing service
from accepting anything of value from a repair shop for the delivery
of a vehicle to the shop and prohibits a repair shop from paying
anything of value to a tow truck service for delivery of a vehicle.
   This bill would prescribe the punishments for first and subsequent
violations of these provisions, and would provide additional
measures relating to impounding tow trucks, including a requirement
that the court order the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend the
driving privilege, as specified, if a tow truck driver is involved.
Because of this requirement regarding the court, and because a
violation of this provision would subject the offender to an
increased period of confinement in the county jail, this bill would
impose a state-mandated local program.
  (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 12110 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   12110.  (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no towing
service shall provide and no person or public entity shall accept any
direct or indirect commission, gift, or any compensation whatever
from a towing service in consideration of arranging or requesting the
services of a tow truck.  As used in this section, "arranging" does
not include the activities of employees or principals of a provider
of towing services in responding to a request for towing services.
   (b) Subdivision (a) does not preclude a public entity otherwise
authorized by law from requiring a fee in connection with the award
of a franchise for towing vehicles on behalf of that public entity.
However, the fee in those cases may not exceed the amount necessary
to reimburse the public entity for its actual and reasonable costs
incurred in connection with the towing program.
   (c) Any towing service or any employee of a towing service that
accepts or agrees to accept any money or anything of value from a
repair shop and any repair shop or any employee of a repair shop that
pays or agrees to pay any money or anything of value as a
commission, referral fee, inducement, or in any manner a
consideration, for the delivery or the arranging of a delivery of a
vehicle, not owned by the repair shop or towing service, for the
purpose of storage or repair, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
as set forth in subdivision (d).  Nothing in this subdivision
prevents a towing service from towing a vehicle to a repair shop
owned by the same company that owns the towing service.
   (d) Any person convicted of a violation of subdivision (a) or (c)
shall be punished as follows:
   (1) Upon first conviction, by a fine of not more than five
thousand dollars ($5,000) or imprisonment in the county jail for not
more than six months, or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If the
violation of subdivision (a) or (c) is committed by a tow truck
driver, the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be
suspended by the department under Section 13351.85.  The clerk of the
court shall send a certified abstract of the conviction to the
department.  If the violation of either subdivision (a) or (c) is
committed by a tow truck driver, the court may order the impoundment
of the tow truck involved for not more than 15 days.
   (2) Upon a conviction of a violation of subdivision (a) or (c)
that occurred within seven years of one or more separate convictions
of violations of subdivision (a) or (c), by a fine of not more than
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or imprisonment in the county jail for
not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment.  If
the violation of subdivision (a) or (c) is committed by a tow truck
driver, the person's privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall be
suspended by the department under Section 13351.85.  The clerk of the
court shall send a certified abstract of the conviction to the
department.  If the violation of either subdivision (a) or (c) is
committed by a tow truck owner, the court may order the impoundment
of the tow truck involved for not less than 15 days but not more than
30 days.
  SEC. 2.  Section 13351.85 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   13351.85.  Upon receipt of a duly certified abstract of any court
showing that a person has been convicted of a violation of Section
12110, the department shall suspend that person's driving privilege
for four months if the conviction was a first conviction, and for one
year, if the conviction was a second or subsequent conviction of a
violation of that section that occurred within seven years of the
current conviction.
  SEC. 3.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the
only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district
will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction,
eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime
or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government
Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of
Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.
